Actility, the industry leader in low power wide area networking, today announces that it has selected 7layers, the leading international testing and certification house for the wireless industry, to implement the interoperability testing that leads to Actility’s “ThingPark Connected” status. ThingPark Connected devices have been extensively tested through LoRaWAN use cases and application integration to confirm interoperability in networks powered by Actility’s network server and management software. 7layers has implemented the ThingPark Connected test plans for Europe, and the service will be available through ThingPark Market from March 6th.
“We’re very pleased to launch this collaboration with 7layers, one of the leading global wireless test houses,” says Actility SVP for Products, Boris Lacroix. ”It’s a mark of the strength of the ThingPark Connected programme, and the demand that we are seeing from our device vendor partners, that we needed to bring aboard a dedicated global specialist like 7layers only months after the programme launched. Our partners recognize that getting to be ThingPark Connected is a product improvement programme, not a barrier that must be overcome, and they know that it will increase the reach and profile of their product dramatically.“
“7layers will ensure that the whole process runs extremely smooth, providing support from our own engineers throughout,” explains Dipl-Ing Thomas Jaeger, Director for Group Business Development & Innovation at 7layers. “We will be able to offer vendors a full service, for example providing LoRaWAN Certification or radio antenna performance optimization alongside ThingPark Connected testing. This will help them make sure their product is optimized for real network deployment from Day One. The target is also to give service providers clear visibility of the whole process, so that they can be confident that the products coming through the pipeline are ready to be deployed on their IoT networks.”
Actility’s “ThingPark Connected”(*) programme is designed to support device and application vendors in bringing their LPWA products and applications to market. The programme offers access to a world-leading IoT carrier-grade network platform, which has already been selected in over half the large scale LPWA network rollouts globally, and a developer programme offering support, tools and a community which can be accessed online and in real life through a range of developer events and meet-ups.
When partners have developed their device, they can follow the product optimisation programme hosted by 7layers, providing the testing and recommendations to get the product ready for market and leading to the ThingPark Connected mark. When their product is ThingPark Connected, they can feature it in the ThingPark Market e-commerce platform to accelerate global sales and marketing initiatives, targeting the worldwide customer base connected to the entire network of ThingPark powered networks
“7layers will be a major asset to the ThingPark community, and a support for our partners,” says Derek Hunt, Technical Director for Partner Services at Actility. “Thingpark Connected testing is available in Europe now, and we are working with 7layers to complete test plans and have testing available across the Americas and APAC within the next few months. Soon anyone who wants to join the ThingPark ecosystem will have access to quick and comprehensive ThingPark Connected testing, and more, anywhere around the globe.”
(*)The ”ThingPark Connected” programme, and the “ThingPark Connected” mark were previously known as “ThingPark Approved”.
Learn more about the LoRaWAN technology by downloading the Actility “What is LoRaWAN” white paper